Mei and Hana opened the door to their Captain's office. Taking a look inside, they noticed other two familiar faces.
"Captain, you asked for us?"
"Yes. Please come inside.
Once they entered, Hana closed the door behind them and went to stay next to Mei. The blue-haired girl shot a questioning look to the red-haired boy next to her, but Leo only shook his head. He and Makoto arrived just seconds before the two girls so they were equally as confused.
"I have a mission for the 4 of you."
"A mission?!" Leo excitedly yelled.
"Yes, Leo. The four of you are to go to the village of Rutnik, in the Common Realm."
"Rutnik? That's the village right next to mine. What happened there?" Concern was clear on Hana's face.
"We're not sure yet. That's why I'm sending the four of you there. If you know of Rutnik, then you must know what it is best known for."
Hana nodded. "Yes. Rutnik has the biggest coal mine in the kingdom."
"Exactly. And almost everyone in the entire village works in the mine. However, weird occurrences started happening inside the mine and the workers are not able to work anymore."
"Weird occurrences?" asked Mei.
"Miners go missing or are either found dead or frozen. But most frequently, cave-ins start appearing more frequently. Too frequently."
Hana did not like what she heard. She had been to Rutnik only two times with her parents when she was a little girl so she didn't know many people from there, but she still felt bad for the villagers.
"Dead or frozen? So it's the work of mages." Makoto said.
"This is what we're suspecting as well. I need you to investigate and report back." Captain Fuegoleon cleared his throat before addressing his younger brother. "Leo, did you hear me? Do not engage the enemy before we assess their powers. We will send you back-up if we think that the mission is too much for you."
The huge smile on Leo's face and the twinkle in his eyes told Fuegoleon that he wasn't really listening to what he was saying.
With a sigh, Fuegoleon added. "Makoto you are in charge."
That didn't come as a surprise to Hana. Both Leo and Makoto were the same rank, Intermediate Magic Knight Third Class which were higher than hers and Mei's ranks. She was still a Junior Magic Knight First Class, while Mei was an Intermediate but Fifth Class.
In their squad, Kaito was the highest ranking. He was the same rank as Leo and Makoto, followed by Kuro who was only one class lower, and Haru that had the same rank as Mei.
In the royal squad, Erika was next after Leo and Makoto with the same rank as Mei and Haru, and then Elric and Rin come next, both with the same rank as Hana. (NOTE: I'm sorry if this is too complicated. I will put a note at the end of the chapter with their ranks.)
"Now, go and get ready. You will leave tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir!"
Mei was not in the best mood the next morning. The main reason for that was Kaito's attitude from the night before. The boy got so irritated when he heard of the girl's mission.
Mei couldn't understand why, but ever since they went swimming a few weeks ago, Kaito's attitude towards the nobles turned back to how it used to be before. He complained every time they saw the nobles sitting at their table during lunch and even when they were brought in a random conversation. He went back to being snappy and unfriendly. Sometimes even irascible. Especially towards Leo.
She thought that maybe he didn't appreciate the water fight started by Makoto and Kuro, but that was a stupid reason. Kaito was not one to get mad over childish things like that. There must be something else but Mei just couldn't figure out what.
Taking her mind off of Kaito, Mei noticed the roofs of the small houses.
They had arrived in Rutnik.
Flying their brooms closer to the ground, the four crimson lions stopped at the entrance of the village where they were expected by a group of people.
"Welcome! You must be the magic knights sent by the King to help us."
The group was made of three older men. The one in the middle, who greeted them, was a short fat man, with a few bald spots in his already thin black hair and a few teeth missing. The two other men were taller and more muscular. Dark spots were visible all over their bodies especially on their hands which were a sight that they were probably miners.
"Yes, hello," Hana said once she saw that Makoto was wondering if he should address the man or not "We are members of the Crimson Lions. We were sent here to investigate the rare things happening inside the mines. Could we talk to the one that made the request?"
"Well, that's none other than me. Name's Gandell. I'm this village's chief. What's your name sweetcheeks?"
A chill went up Hana's spine when the man shot her what he probably wanted to be a cheeky smile.
"Uhh, I'm Hana. These are Mei, Leo, and Makoto. I'm actually from Neir, the village to the east of this one."
"Really? A sweet gal like you from a dirty place like that? Holy crap then it must be true. Even commoners can be magic knights."
Hana did not have time to answer because Makoto intervened.
"We should start talking about the mission. What can you tell us about what's happening?"
Gallen looked at Makoto. The boy had a stoic expression that didn't really give away much but the man could see the disgust and sense of superiority in his eyes. The eyes of a noble. Oh, how much he hated them.
"Yes, of course. We should head inside the village then. I'm sure you will want to talk to the miners."
Without waiting for them to answer, Gallen turned around and started walking towards the village.
Hana followed him closely, with the other three right behind her.
While walking, Gallen started talking about the village and how the mine is their main source of income.
During Gallen's speech, Leo was looking around. He had been to the Common Realm before for missions and every time he was astounded at the way people live there. Children were free to run around and scream, some were dirty or naked, or both. Adults were of all sorts. Some were passed out drunk or shamelessly loud drunk. Some were working, talking, laughing, fighting, running around, or just lazing around. Not one of them looked like the stuck-up nobles from the Capital.
Leo's eyes stopped on a group of three kids, around 9 or 10 years old, that seemed to struggle with something. All of them were boys with dark, dusty hair that fell on their eyes making it hard for them to see properly. They were staying in a circle around some wood sticks. One of them was holding two rocks and he was striking them together, trying to get a spark out of them. They were trying to start a fire.
Leo's interest peaked so he left his group and walked towards the kids.
"Leo!" Mei whispered-yelled not wanting to attract the reaction of Gallen when she saw the boy walking away.
Leo ignored her and continue walking until he was behind the boy with the two rocks.
"What are you doing?"
The boys jump in surprise at his voice. All of them turned their heads and looked at Leo. They stood in silence as the boys studied Leo. They have never seen someone from the capital before, especially not a Magic Knight. They did not know this stranger or what he wanted from them.
"We're-- We're trying to start a fire..." One of them mumbled.
"Who are you? Why are you dressed like that?" Another one asked.
Leo gave them a proud grin, his sharp canine showing.
"I am a Magic Knight!"
The boys jumped to their feet immediately, their eyes sparkling.
"A Magic Knight?!"
"So you live in the Capital?"
"What squad are you in?"
Leo chuckled.
"I'm part of the Crimson Lions. I came here to solve the problems with the mine."
"That's so cool!"
"Amazing!"
The impressed faces of the children totally boosted Leo's ego.
"Alright! Now tell me, what were you trying to do?"
"Ahh, we were trying to start a fire. We found this rock that is supposed to change its color when it makes contact with flames."
"Yeah! But our parents won't help us start a fire."
"They're saying that we're too young to play with fire. And that it's dangerous."
Leo couldn't help but chuckle at their story and the grimaces on their faces.
"Well, you're lucky I am here then. I can easily help you with the fire. And, as a Magic Knight, I will also be here to supervise so you don't have to worry."
"Really?!"
"You will actually help us?!"
The sparkles were back in their eyes.
Stretching his hand forward, Leo let a few flames dance around in his palm. The boys looked in awe as he bent forward and lit the sticks on the ground on fire.
"Yes!"
"Thank you, sir Magic Knight!"
"Now we can see what color it's changing into."
The boy who had the black rock in his hand threw it into the fire. The three boys and Leo sat down and waited. They were intensely looking at the stone inside the flames.
After a few seconds, the rock started moving as if it was jumping. Its edges started going from black to a reddish almost orangey color.
"It's working!" One of the boys yelled.
As soon as he said that, small sparks started jumping out from the fire. Before the group realized what was going on, one spark fell on one of the boy's lap and it lit the front of his shirt on fire. The flame was not too big but it was enough to make the boy and his friends panic.
The boys started yelling.
Before Leo could get up and do something, Mei jumped next to the boy and dumped water on him. She had been watching them the whole time. Once she understood what was happening, she took the bucket full of water from a woman that was cleaning her carpets nearby.
After she dealt with the boy, she started throwing dirt at the fire that Leo lit up. Not being able to extinguish it, however, Mei used her magic to seal the fire inside a tungsten sphere and then closed it up around it until there was nothing left of it.
"That was a normal coal, not a color-changing rock!" She yelled, shooting the boys a glare. "Now, go home before I tell your parents what happened!"
The boys did not wait for her to tell them twice. They got up and started running. One of them almost tripped over and fell, but he regained his balance in time.
"And you," Mei looked at Leo "Don't just encourage kids to play with fire!"
Leo crossed his arms against his chest.
"I could have handled it myself."
Mei sighed in frustration. She was about to pop off on him, but she was interrupted by an old lady that approached them.
"Oh, are you two Magic Knights?"
Mei just nodded, but Leo also added. "Yes, we're Crimson Lions."
"Are you here for the problems with the mine and coals?"
"Yes ma'am," Mei responded "We're here to see what is going on in the mines."
"Wonderful! Oh, I can't believe someone actually answered our request."
Leo grinned.
"That's right! We are going to solve this and make sure that it will be safe for miners to do their work again."
"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to us! We all thought that we were going to die when the last batch of coals had disappeared. We lost hope."
That made Leo and Mei furrow their brows in confusion.
"Coals disappeared? We only know of people disappearing."
"Yes, a lot of miners went missing. Some were found dead, however, or frozen."
"Yes, we know that. But we don't know anything about a batch of coals going missing."
"Yes, yes. It happened three months ago, during the summer festival. Almost everyone went to Kaire, the next village for the festival, either to sell merchandise or as a spectator. Those who stayed, however, said that there was a big earthquake that shook the entire village. When they went to check if everyone was alright, they noticed that all the coals disappeared."
"All of them?"
"Yes, all of them."
"And no one saw anything?"
"No, it looked as if the entire storage building had been swallowed."
"Wait" Mei was getting more and more confused "The building storage went missing as well?"
"Yes, that's what I said."
Leo and Mei looked at each other. The story did not make any sense to them.
"Why did big brother not inform us of this?"
"Maybe he thought that it was not related to our mission?" Mei tried, but even as she said it she knew that that could not have been true."We should let Hana and Makoto know. Maybe they have a better idea."
Leo nodded.
Saying their thanks to the old woman, the two started walking towards the direction Hana and Makoto went following Gallen.
In the meanwhile, Hana and Makoto, who did not notice that Leo and Mei left them until they arrived at Gallen's destination, continued to talk with Gallen during their walk.
"Everything started about 7 months ago. The ones that survived decided not to step foot there again."
"7 months ago?" Hana asked, "While didn't you call for Magic Knights then?"
"We did. It was only now that actions have been taken. All we could do all this time was wait."
The church they were heading to grew bigger in size as they got closer to it.
"Of course, there were people who could not do that. Selling coals is what keeps our bellies full and puts warm clothes on our backs. So, naturally, people started taking actions into their own hands when they saw that no word was coming from the capital."
Hana coughed and looked down. She shouldn't be feeling for it but nonetheless, she did. Makoto remained quiet and emotionless next to her.
"An expedition had been organized a month ago. A few sturdy men picked up their pickaxes and headed down in the mines again."
They reached the fence and passed through the gate.
"And what happened to them?"
Gallen stopped right in front of the door. His flirty attitude from before was long gone. He looked at Hana with a hard expression on his face.
"Not one of them returned."
He pushed the door open and entered the room. Hana and Makoto followed him.
The first thing they noticed was how many people there were. Most of them were kids and nuns.
The room did not look like a normal church room. It had almost no benches, only a few chairs enough for the nuns and the three priests that were there. The kids were either sitting on the ground or running around. It was chaotic.
"Why did you bring us here?"
Gallen pointed to the other side of the room where a boy around their age was sitting down with a blanket on his back. He was standing very close to the chimney even though there was no fire. His head and left shoulder were leaning on the wall.
"He's the son of one of the men who went down there. His mom died one year after his birth, his father was all he had. So, he decided to go after him. He was found frozen later that day by a man sent to see if anyone had returned."
They walked towards the boy but Gallen and Makoto stopped next to him. Hana continued until she was right in front of him and then sat down.
The boy made no move.
"A week had passed but the boy had not been the same ever since. He's constantly shaking and stays only next to the fire. We couldn't get him to talk and he barely eats. The nuns are taking care of him, bathing him, feeding him, even helping him go to the toilet. The boy completely lost his mind."
His eyes were now on Hana, but his look was so dull, it seemed as if he wasn't actually seeing her. He was like an empty shell.
Hana's chest tightened.
"There's no other information about what is going on? No one else that survived?"
"There had been other people found frozen, but they died before they could give any information."
Hana took the boy's shaking hands in hers. They felt cold. He made no indication that he even felt her touch.
She was on the brink of tears.
"We should go," Makoto spoke for the first time since they entered the village.
Hana rubbed her arm on her eyes trying to stop the tears that were about to spill and nodded.
She got up and the two men turned around to walk towards the exit. Before she followed them, Hana bent down and kissed the boy on his forehead.
"We will find out what happened with your dad. I promise."
When the four of them finally got together and shared the information, they had to make a choice. Either inform their Captain about their newly found information about the robbery and risk ending the meeting or keep going with the mission and put everything in the final report.
To Makoto's frustration, they were three against one on the latter option.
So, the four of them decided to go right at the root of the problem. The mine.
They had to inform the village chief in order to find the location of the mine. He apologized for not being able to get anyone to accompany them there, but apparently, villagers don't want to get any closer to the mine since the last incident.
They were lucky that the mine wasn't very far from the village so they didn't need their brooms.
The entrance looked like a normal's cave entrance.
"So, what are we looking for exactly?" Mei asked once they were inside the cave.
She made sure she sat very close to Leo who provided the strongest light. The other three had a lantern in their hands each, but their light emitted from them was nothing compared to Leo's fire and Mei hated the dark.
"Anything," Hana answered.
They reached the conclusion that everything was the works of mages. They tried to scare off miners so that they could profit from the coals. They probably stole the missing batch as well, most likely with a spacial mage. Although they couldn't explain why or how they stole the house along with the coals.
The tunnel they were going through was not very cramped and its ceiling was very high up. They were looking around for clues, either on the walls or on the ground.
After a while, the walls of the tunnels start getting wider and wider until it was no longer a tunnel. They reached the place where miners were splitting to go on different routes for mining.
A lot of holes. Too many.
"Where to now?"
Suddenly, the entire cave trembled.
The shaking was so violent that they could barely keep their balance. Hana fell on her butt while Makoto was trying to support himself by grabbing the wall. Leo was doing the same as Makoto, and Mei was trying her best to stay on her own feet but there was nothing for her to reach.
Things got worse when the ground split right in front of them.
Everything happened in just mere seconds.
Mei lost her balance right at that moment. She was facing her friends so she was falling on her back right in the hole that was opened in the ground.
Before he even had time to think, Leo reacted. He let go of the wall and jumped to try and reach Mei's hand.
And he did reach it, he grabbed her hand.
But he had not enough support on his feet so instead of pulling Mei up, she dragged him down with her.
Makoto and Hana reacted too late. The boy reached for Leo's cape while the girl got on her knees and stretch her hand forward.
However, they didn't make it in time. Leo and Mei fell.
What was even worse was that the hole closed immediately after.
--
NOTERanks (from the highest to the lowest):
Makoto, Kaito and Leo: Intermediate Magic Knight, Third Class
Kuro: Intermediate Magic Knight, Fourth Class
Haru, Mei and Erika: Intermediate Magic Knight, Fifth Class
Hana, Rin and Elric: Junior Magic Knight, First Class
